Etc.

December 26, 2008

We don't know what the reaction was when Gil Steward handed out Christmas presents to the loved ones in his life. But we do know how two strangers responded to his acts of kindness: with deep gratitude. If you haven't heard, Steward was in search of a part for a trailer when he walked into a Home Depot outlet in Auburn, Maine, one day last week. But before he found the part, he spied a man's wallet on the floor and no one else in sight. He opened it to look for the owner's identification, and discovered that it was stuffed with $100 and $50 bills. So he handed it in at the service desk and heard the owner being paged as he went back to shopping. He was still at it when a 20-something approached, thanked him profusely, and said the cash was meant for his mortgage payment plus a couple of Christmas gifts. Nice story, huh? Yes, but there's more. Two days later, Steward was at the same store on another errand and – you guessed it – spotted a money pouch on the floor. This one had the name of a soft-drink vendor on it, so he picked it up and headed to the service desk again. When, minutes later, a deliveryman pushed a hand truck stacked with sodas into the store, Steward stopped him and asked whether he was missing anything. "No," the other guy said. But then he checked and realized he no longer had the pouch. Whew: more profuse thanks. Steward, a salesman for a motorcycle dealer, said his two discoveries had to have been a fluke. According to his wife, Dee, he also said he thinks he's "being tested."